Death Song
by Idres the Infernal
Summary: Two dragons from warring tribes flee their continent and leave their old lives behind. Falling into the clutches of the SkyWings and fighting for their lives and their freedom, they must now face a much more pressing threat: find the Auma, the first son of the Void and the Light, hellbent on destruction, and force him to spare their world, and possibly the universe as they know it.
1. Chapter 1

**Hey. Hi. Just a forewarning, this story contains material not recommended if you aren't up for gore, dark themes, profanity, etc. (Discounting sexual content, which I will tolerate none of, let alone write about). If you do wish to proceed, please note that I am not responsible for any of you getting in trouble for reading this. It's rated T for a reason.**

**If you plan on continuing anyways, enjoy.**

**-Idres**

**P.S. I don't really like putting characters from the original series into my writings; I enjoy using the universes, not the individuals in them.**

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**Tribe Logs: **_The Warring Tribes of Kthaat_

(I thought it would be a good idea to introduce any new tribes like this whenever they appear)

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**Tribe:** Nivium (a female is a Nivyss)

**Description**: The Nivium are about the size of a Pyrrhian dragon, a tad larger, and follow a general ivory/tan/brown color scheme with dappled patterns in darker tones. They have a broader, heavier build than most other tribes, with shorter limbs and wider heads. Their wings have a rounded shape, appearing more like fins, and small spikes about the length of a claw that sprout from between the scales on their shoulders and back, while normal spines run down the length of their spine. Their claws are shorter, allowing for easier manipulation of objects and making their handwriting generally neater. Their tails are shorter and stockier, ending in a horizontal, axe-like protrusion, which is an effective weapon and tool. Their eyes have black sclera and white pupils, and typically stay in the reds and blues, with purple and green being rare mutations, turning black with extreme emotion. Their horns range from short little nubs to long, curving structures that curl around their head like reversed elephant tusks. Ears appear webbed and are often pierced, as the 'webbing' between the cartilage stigs has no feeling.

**Blood Properties**: The blood of the Nivium is dark green, and thick, like blended plant matter. It has herbal properties that gives these dragons increased healing speed, and when applied to the wounds of other tribes, cleanses it of infection and causes rapid coagulation, stopping even the most severe bleeding within minutes.

**Abilities**: Nivium are particularly strong with remarkable endurance, and are capable of long flights that can last for days on end without rest, so long as they pick up an occasional drink or snack along the way. They are capable of breathing flame, but only in short bursts, as the flammable gasses they rely on are quickly depleted.

**Innate abilities**: Typically are temperature-control based, with some being able to use objects at a predetermined internal temperature in a form of telekinesis

**Council** (by ranking): Lord Berryrth (M), Lady Ydret (F), Sir Rorvyt (M), Madame Morgys (F), Paige Ammunth (F) , Paige Mando (F), Counselor Gervoth (M), Counselor Zyso (M)

**Dwellings**: Nivium live in neatly furnished burrows dug into the sides of cliffs. The cliffs with the thickest concentration of Nivium are The Bottomless Sheers, a narrow valley between two mountains.

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**Tribe**: Kethoss

**Description**: Kethoss are a bit smaller than the Pyrrhian dragons, making them quite a bit smaller than the Nivium, with the color of their ridged scales varying between individuals, but mostly being in the black/dark gray range. With long, jagged wings shaped like those of a tern, they have incredible aerial mobility and speed, allowing them to out-maneuver their opponents and get in behind them. Their eyes almost identical to the Nivium except with more dramatic eye ridges and narrower pupils, turning white with extreme emotion and mainly being reds and oranges. There is a row of webbed spines that are covered in thick scale plates that can expand into a 'hood', much like that of a cobra, which most often have iridescent, rune-like markings leading from massive, swirling patches on the hood itself to down the neck and up into the face. They have shoulder spines anchored deep in their muscles and bones that can reach the length of a forearm, and their horns are shaped like the Nivium except longer and with two or three branches, like antlers. Their tails make up over half the length of the entire dragon, thick at the base and tapering to a whip-thin point that can be used like an extra limb while climbing or can be used for carrying lightweight objects such as bundles of scrolls and writing utensils.

**Blood Properties**: This tribe possesses neon blue blood that glows under UV rays. There is a specific protein in the plasma that acts as a powerful acid, crumbling any organic (and many inorganic) materials into a soupy puddle of raw elements. Each individual is immune to their own acid, and close family members are resistant to the effects.

**Abilities**: Capable of high speeds and high maneuverability, Kethoss are ultimate aerial combatants, but are rather weak on the ground, which is made up for with their sheer ferocity and agility. Their hoods can be flared, flashing iridescent patterns that appear to be glowing. They are incapable of breathing flame, but by scraping their spines together, they can create sparks.

**Innate abilities**: Most commonly sense-based, some have the ability to manipulate emotions and bodily functions.

**Council** (by ranking): Lord Toddri (M), Lady Ylloth (F), Sir Gomai (M), Sir Ylbu (M), Paige Bimmet (F), Paige Orlay (F), Counselor Izzo (F), Counselor Nuzoiss (M)

**Dwellings**: Living in huts woven and grown from the trees and plants of the jungles they inhabit, Kethoss blend their villages into the scenery so as to avoid detection from any unwanted eyes.

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_**In the beginning**, there was only the Void. Darkness. Nothing._

_Its name was Lei'Azuran._

_Lei'Azuran shifted around in the tiny, confined space of nothingness, longing for company, for companionship. And then the Light came. Al'Avernus._

_Al'Avernus and Lei'Azuran, Light and Dark, two gods, each who pined for the other. Their beings met in the middle, the light and the shadows mingling into shapes, into planets, stars, solar systems, galaxies, creating the universe, creating life. Oh, the life they created. _

_Their children lived on the planets their celestial parents had created for them, worshipping the two gods and what they represented. There could be no light without dark, no soft without harsh, no love without hate, no sweet without sour, no comfort without pain. _

_The two beings, proud of what they had created, went dormant._

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**[Kovas, 3, 5162 PS (Post-Scorching)]**

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Kovas looked up at his mother. Saw the terror in her black eyes. Felt her warm wings the color of damp soil shaking around him.

And he knew from the screams, from the explosions, from the alien shrieks and whistles, that they had come. The Kethoss. The Kethoss were taking their revenge. The narrow black wings and whip-thin bodies that were impossible to hit, the obsidian antlers and cobra hoods flashing with light, the orange eyes that shone with a benevolent flame.

The Kethoss were here, and they didn't plan on taking prisoners.

Peeking up out of a break in the bushes where they hid, Kovas witnessed a smaller Kethoss dive-bomb an adult Nivium, whom he recognized as Sir Rorvyt from the sandy bands on his wings. The brown dragon shrieked in pain as serrated claws dug under the scales in the back of his neck, the whip-like wyrm on top digging and tearing at the flesh beneath its talons. Kovas' mother pulled him away before he could see any more.

They his like that for hours, listening to the raging battle outside. It was well into the night when it was finally over, the last of the attacking Kethoss hurled into the ground.

Lord Berryrth had been killed, along with his partner, Lady Ydret. Sir Rorvyt had taken down the dive-bomber, but in the end succumbed to blood loss and the corrosive effects of Kethoss blood. Corpses littered the valley below the cliffs, where Kovas recognized several individuals; a shopkeeper, two of the five blacksmiths, multiple council guards and members, and most distressingly, his own aunt.

Walking down the moonlit path under the shelter of his mother's wing, Kovas watched the wheeling Nivium collect on the protruding porch of the main meeting cave towards the upper reaches of the valley.

His mother gathered her wings, spreading them to take off—

—and a Kethoss with a black patch on its wing, who had been hiding in the shadows, pounced.

The last word he heard from his mother was "Go."

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**[Kovas, 12, 5174 PS]**

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He has already lost everything. He couldn't lose any more.

At least, that's what Kovas told himself when he came across her.

A Kethoss.

A blind Kethoss.

A blind Kethoss with a torn wing, hanging several wing lengths up a tree, screaming angrily as he approached.

"OI! YOU!" She had initially shouted, twisting her scarred snout around to face him, hood flaring. She was smaller than the others he had seen. Young, inexperienced. Yet covered in so many scars, claws across her face, chains around her arms, slashes across her throat, stabs in her abdomen and chest. "_YOU GON' HELP OR NOT?!_"

The rage behind her words jarred him, as if he were to blame for this. And she was blind. Maybe if he moved silently—

"Don't think I can' sense you, ya dusty bitch," she hissed much more softly as he tried to turn away. "Blin' sigh'." She kept her eerily empty gaze on him, long tail curled around the branches she hung in.

"Excuse me, _what?_" He snarled, turning on her.

"Blin' sigh'. I can see things without lookin'." She paused. "So is tha' a no, then?"

"Why should I help _you?_" Kovas spat suddenly, spines standing on end. "You filthy black wyrms have taken everything from me. Why shouldn't I take something from _them?_"

"Because they don' care 'bout me," she retorted, her words driving an icy spear into his chest. The way she said it. So emotionless. Unphased. "You can kill me all you wan', they'll ne'er care. By all the moons, I jus' kill'd my own FATHER, and now I'm TRYIN' TO FLY AWAY. But as you can see, I CAN' DO THA' RIGH' NOW, because _I'M STUCK IN THIS FUCKIN' TREE, YA DAF' CELERY STICK!_"

"FOURTH MOONS, ALRIGHT! But I SWEAR TO THE EIGHT SOULS, if you even THINK of killing me, I WILL BEAT YOU INTO THE GROUND LIKE THE ROTTEN PEAR YOU ARE." Growling under his breath, Kovas adjusted the strap of his bag and clawed his way up the tree to where the Kethoss lay tangled.

At first trying to untie her from the leaves, he received a nip to the arm, and with a sigh, resorted to snapping the branches and vines with his jaws.

With a shriek, she suddenly tore free, flailing in an attempt to grasp something on her way down. With a hard thud, she hit the ground far below. Kovas glided down, landing beside the fallen Kethoss. He prodded her with one talon. "You fuckin' soggy lampshade," she mumbled, hood flattened. She made no move to stop him from cautiously spreading her wing to examine the damage.

The jagged edge of the gaping hole in the black dragon's wing had scabbed over, the black blood dried to the membrane. Careful of the corrosive substance, he set the edge down and opened his pouch of various medical equipment.

"Wha' ya doin'?" The black dragon hisses, suddenly alert.

"Stitching it." Fishing two thimbles, a needle and wire thread from the depths of the leather bag, he threaded it and gently took the leading edge of the tear in one talon, the thimbles on his thumb and claw to prevent corrosion burns. "This is going to hurt. Try to not move."

He jabbed it through the thick membrane of her wing, and she flinched back, shivering as he pulled the thread through.

"Oh it's fine. It'll take at least another hundred or so, and I'm going to have to reopen the wound itself to get it to heal together instead of separately."

"I fuckin' hate ya, ya know tha'?"

"Yeah. It's mutual."

* * *

A fire crackled under a starry sky as Kovas finally tied off the final stitch and snipped it off with a tiny pair of scissors. "There we go," he said with a sigh, wiping off his needle with a cloth. "So tell me exactly why you killed your father in the first place and ended up in this mess?"

The Kethoss sat up, flexing and then folding her wing in before answering. "My name is Luciveros. You can call me Luci. I kill'd my father, who jus' so happened to be Lord Toddri, Mr. Fabulous himself, because he kill'd my mother after figurin' out that I had been kidnapped by a group of Nivium and sen' him a ransom note. He figured tha' if both of us were out of the way, he would be able to have supreme control over the tribe so long as the res' of the council agreed with whate'er he proposed." She turned to the fire for a few seconds. "I foun' out. The Nivium rogues tha' had me had been torturin' me for some bullshi' reason, blindin' me and doin' a lo' o' the stuff ya see."

The sandy dragon took in all the scars across her flank. _Should I even be trusting her? She's apparently cold enough to kill her own father, even if he did kill her mother_, he thought, poking holes in the dirt at his talons. His memory flashed back to nine years prior, and he quickly shook it from his head.

"...so I kill'd 'em. Used my blin' sigh' to help me find my way back home, foun' my father, kill'd _him_, and got out of there before anyone could fin' out. I was expandin' my range to check if anyone followed me, unfocused the close-up, and a tree decided to take the opportunity to strike." Luci's mouth curled into a grin, and she swept her tail as she thought, the whip-thin edge slithering across the dirt to brush against Kovas'. "An' now I have nowhere to go."

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**I greatly enjoy where this is going so far. I'm going to have to come up with more passive-aggressive insults for Luci to throw around, so I'm going to try to not reuse any (also her accent is hard to type, but the ' usually replaces a _d_ or _t, _and for those of you who couldn't figure it out, blin' sigh' is blindsight). What do _you_ guys think so far? :) (AKA should I keep her weird British/Australian accent?)**


	2. Chapter 2

**[Kovas, 15, 5177 PS]**

Three years had passed. The duo had left their small continent of Kthaat for the primary mainland, Pyrrhia, only a week ago. Landing on the first bit of earth they had seen, exhausted and weak, a group of ten or so red dragons with too-big wings had found them.

When they had taken in the two foreigners a few days before, they were twisted and wrapped in thin wires, dragged to some sort of palace carved into a mountain, and hooked up to other prisoners on top of towering rock pillars. These pillars were arranged in a massive circle around what looked like an empty stone lake with a layer of sand below balconies, bleachers, and caves carved into the rock walls under the rising morning sun.

Luciveros was across the circle from him. Accent slightly leveled out, she had stopped speaking as much due to a painful buildup of scar tissue from the slash in her throat. Her voice itself had become almost scarily deeper and gruffer, matching her scarred, lean physique.

Most of the other prisoners slept or sat silently in the slowly rising heat, while a couple conversed with their neighbors in a completely unknown language. A few curious glances were shot at the two odd dragons, and multiple times Luci snarled at the dragon to her left, scales an icy white with a mane of spikes.

An untold amount of time later, he snapped awake as dragons began filtering out of wide tunnels, descending from the sky, and swooping up from the balconies to inspect the prisoners. Most were the red Big-Wings, but there were also a couple pale yellow dragons with scorpion barbs on their tails and even a handful of muddy brown dragons that looked almost like Nivium.

He didn't know how long it took for the stands to fill, but by the time they had, the rumble of conversation had reached near deafening levels.

Two armored Big-Wings stepped out of a tunnel leading to the largest balcony in the center, upon which sat an intricately carved throne of solid gold. Their twin roars echoed across the bowl and up the walls, and the multicolored conglomeration of dragons went dead silent and snapped to attention. All across the bowl, dragon's heads bowed, talons were crossed and a collective hiss sent shivers down his spine.

A stunningly elegant, orange Big-Wing wrapped in gold and chains of gems stepped out, escorted by several guards. Tiny rubies were embedded down her forearms and neck, golden clasps ran the length of her tail, and Kovas had absolutely no idea how she expected to be able to fly wearing _so much metal_.

She took a seat on the throne, and nodded to a ruby-red dragon in the shadows. She seemed rather timid, but nevertheless leapt off the balcony and hovered over the center of the bowl.

With a booming voice and extravagant sweeps of her talons, she was a very charismatic figure, despite speaking a foreign language that he had no knowledge of whatsoever. She gestured up to the ring of prisoners, then flicked her tail at the guards. With a jolt of terror, Kovas watched as they approached his friend's side of the circle, then felt it melt into relief when they instead turned to her Icicle-Mane neighbor.

Writhing and screaming, the white dragon attempted to throw himself off the pillar, even with his limbs and wings still bound in wires. A guard clamped his mouth shut with one talon as his wires were unclipped from the bands around his neck, wrists, and ankles, then with multiple dragons gripping the white dragon on all sides, he was flown back down to the bowl and dumped on the sand below, landing in a heap.

The red dragon flinched, and with another statement, gestured to a dark opening in the side of the bowl. Another dragon, completely unbound, stepped onto the sand, and at that moment, Kovas felt his heart skip a beat.

He _recognized_ this individual.

He _recognized_ the scars on his arms and the missing left horn.

This black dragon…

This _Kethoss_…

_This was the dragon that had killed his mother._

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**[Luciveros, 15, 5177 PS]**

The scarred black dragon watched in a mixture of abstract disgust and mild panic as this Kethoss flaunted himself like a masterly crafted art piece. And the next thing she knew, the stupid Nivium had hurled himself off the pillar, writhing against the wires that dug into his flank, gnashing his jaws as spittle flew along with the slurs.

This continued with multiple guards circling him, trying to figure out how to grapple with the massive, sandy dragon without losing their eye (or life) in the process.

Expanding and focusing her blindsight, she narrowed in on her one-horned kin. His expression was amusing; his snout twisted in confusion, eyes narrowed, judgemental. His ears were pressed flat against his skull, a typical sign of fear in Kethoss. Why would he fear the squishy dumbass of a sandbag?

Flicking tail. _He knows something. _Eyes twitching out of focus. _Thinking. Is he trying to remember if he's seen him before?_ Internal temperature dropping, hood flexing. _Defense mechanism. He truly fears Kovas, then… Have they met before? _Luciveros shifted her focus to the Nivium. Kovas was going ballistic, wing muscles tensing despite the bands. His lower throat engaged with the fire sac, sparking. _So they have met… is this a grudge? Why?_

The screeching sandbag whipped around, snarling at the surrounding BigWings. The red dragon that had been making calls now stood nearly behind the throne, eyes flicking from the bowl to the ring and back. The elegant orange female that sat beside her bore an expression of nearly uncontained excitement on her face. Luciveros wrinkled her snout up, baring her teeth. _Disgusting. Absolutely disgusting._

The other Kethoss, having completely forgotten about the Icicle-Mane cowering in the corner, gathered himself and flutter-leapt onto the balcony. His lithe form slipped past the orange Big-Wings, hissing something in the Pyrrhian language under his breath. She nodded, eyes still locked onto the struggling Nivium, and he padded down a stone hallway and out of range.

Kovas opened his maw and bellowed, a low, echoing rumble that sounded of stringed instruments and thunder, of cobblestones clashing on a stormy beach. It tapered off into a shriek, and he went limp, hissing. His eyes were still black, claws clenched in the tangle of wires. The Big-Wings easily grappled him and flew him back to his pillar, where they added actual chains to his shackles.

The ruby announcer dropped back off the balcony, hovering in place as she spoke, talons waving down at the bowl and up to the ring, back at the hallway the Kethoss vanished into, then down at the ring once again. The crowd, who had been relatively silent before, erupted.

And the guards approached Luciveros.

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_Well fuck_, she thought blankly as the Big-Wings unclipped her wires. Tail flicking, she allowed herself to be lifted down to the bowl. Kovas began yelling, straining against his chains, flaring his wings as much as he could. _Shut up, shut up, shut up, shut up, shut up…_

She dug her claws into the sand clumped with blood as she was dropped down. The Icicle-Mane was larger than her, most likely stronger, and still pressed against the wall. She pressed her snout into the grit. The scent was sharp, iron-based. _Fresh. Spilled from arteries. Is that a whiff of… copper? Odd._

The announcer waved a talon down at the bowl. She made three loud calls, then backed off to the balcony.

The Icicle-Mane began stalking around her, talons making almost no sound on the sand.

Luciveros lifted her snout slightly. _He doesn't know that I'm not entirely blind,_ she realized. She let him get closer.

Kovas was screaming now.

The crowd's wings thundered, their roars deafening.

The larger dragon came to a wing length away.

His legs tensed. He was planning on pounding. _He's facing my side. If I do… this-_

The black dragon whipped around, leaping away, hood flared. _-he should do-_

The Icicle-Mane pounced anyways. _-NOT THAT._

He landed almost on top of her, claws extended, reaching for her throat.

Everything slowed.

_Focus, Luci_.

He had no underbelly plates. Just tough skin. _Weak spot. _His claws were serrated. _Don't get clawed, the wound will be rough and possibly become infected._

His claws hit her throat. Wrapped around. Claws pricked at her scales. _He's trying to pin me down and choke me out; if he were going to draw blood, he would have hit me dead-on. _Her thoughts paused. _Does he know about the acid blood?_

She was hit with the full force of a fully grown dragon whose scales were as cold as ice, talons squeezing the life out of her. Less than ideal.

His weight crushed her limbs into the sand. Her tail thrashed, whipping against his back and wings. He didn't relent. Her blindsight began to blur, her thoughts slowing and becoming sluggish.

Kovas was screaming himself raw from somewhere far away.

Her defense mentor's voice rang in her head, clear like a bell in her slowly dulling world. "_If you're pinned, bite your tongue and spit blood." _Ew.

There was a stomach-churning crunch of muscle as she gnashed it between her teeth, and her mouth filled with the neon blue acid. She recoiled at bittersweet taste of the vanadium, then curled her mutilated tongue into a tube and spat.

It hit him in the eyes.

The weight disappeared as he reared back, howling in pain. Her world became sharper as she rolled onto her side and gagged for air, coughing on her own blood.

Her opponent was clawing at his face, shrieking as his eyes became hollowed black sockets, the flesh around them melting down to his skull. Acrid smoke rose from beneath his talons as he held his face.

The crowd was screaming.

Kovas was screaming.

The Icicle-Mane was screaming.

Luciveros thought she might as well scream with them.

A whooping shriek tore from her throat as she charged her distracted quarry, lunging for his exposed midsection, jaws filled with her own acidic blood. Her claws sliced through the soft underbelly, the other dragon's blue blood spurting from the tears in his hide. He toppled from the force of the blow, his screams cutting off as she delivered a single bite to his jugular, being sure to pump as much of her own blood into his as possible before releasing him.

Her ragged panting continued as she backed off, muzzle dripping with blue liquid. The other dragon convulsed on the sand, sputtering as his flesh began to discolor, his wounds turning black with char as deadly blood that was not his own coursed through his veins.

The Icicle-Mane shuddered one last time before going still, the acid still doing its work.

Accumulated dragons were going wild, wings thundering as guards descended to lift her back to her pillar.

Kovas shot her a glance as her restraints were clipped back into place. She wiped the blood from her face before placing her talon on a wire.

It sizzled through, falling from the pillar. _Huh._

_...OH._

Luciveros lifted her head, hoping her scratchy voice would reach the Nivium. "Oi dipshi', I 'ave an idea!"

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**Yeah, I'm taking my sweet time in writing this. I have almost no idea where I'm going with this. **

**Leave a review for feedback! :)**


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